If you want to use cold-formed steel (CFS) frame structure for building, how high can you build it?
Although some people say that the height of a 10-storey building is the limit of a cold-formed frame structure, what would a structural engineer say if he jumped out of "inertial thinking"?
The Steel Structure Industry Association (SFIA) decided to find out. Patrick Ford, director of Matsen Ford Design in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and technical director of SFIA, was commissioned by the association to explore how high a cold-formed steel structure can be by creating a high-rise building with a CFS frame. In April 2016, at the meeting of the American Iron and Steel Association, Ford unveiled SFIA Matsen Tower, a 40-storey house named after his partner John P. Matsen.
SFIA Matsen Tower Design
The SFIA Matsen Tower project opens a new channel for Cold-Formed frame structures to high-rise buildings.
"It's time for structural engineers and future engineers in school to see what cold-formed steel structures can do." Larry Williams, executive director of SFIA, said: "Cold-formed steel structures may be able to build taller buildings than previously thought, taller than any wooden structure."
Significance of Cold-formed Steel Structures in High-rise Buildings
Since 2000, cold-formed thin-walled light steel has been introduced to China. At that time, there were Japanese KC system and Canadian incomparable steel system. The equipment used was mainly Hayes, Pinnacle (later replaced by Framecad, scottdales and Xinhonghua in China). Although the equipment used changed, light steel factories were always making low-rise buildings below 3 stories, except for sporadic villas and real estate. Projects and new rural construction projects, foreign export projects, few large residential projects are undertaking self-built housing projects. Low-rise light steel residential projects, because of their small size, also make it difficult for many light steel enterprises to form a scale, are in the stage of looking for business model and market direction. If cold-formed light steel can be used as a high-rise building, is it meaningful to bring clouds to light?
According to United Nations statistics, the global urban population grew rapidly from 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014. Today, 54% of the world's population lives in cities, which is expected to increase to 66% by 2050. That's another 2.5 billion people who need urban housing.
Due to the limited urban space, future owners will meet the housing demand vertically. For owners, the more vertical construction systems the better.
However, not all architects, engineers and contractors know the strength and ductility of cold-formed steel frames. Some people may regard cold-formed steel structures as light-weight materials only suitable for partition of indoor walls and frame support of various exterior building finishes.